Chapter 136: Like You More ④
“My sister wants you to stay for dinner,” Li Kai said, standing up and calling out to Nie Qiu.
Nie Qiu stopped in her tracks, her back to Li Kai, and touched her flushed cheeks. They felt hot to the touch, her heart was pounding. This was the first time she had ever felt this way, and Nie Qiu was a bit flustered. Logically, she shouldn’t be this shy! Regardless, she was already thirty-eight years old and had been in several relationships! How could she be so shy from being charmed by a child?
“Xiao Kai! Bring Nie Qiu to eat!” Li Mingxue called from the dining hall, setting down chopsticks with Li Ying.
“Okay, got it!” Li Kai replied loudly. He then quietly moved in front of Nie Qiu and saw her touching her bright red face. He smiled, suddenly feeling very happy. He extended his hand, “Let’s go! Let’s go down to eat together!”
Nie Qiu looked at Li Kai’s outstretched hand, glared fiercely at him, and walked out of the study, slinging her shoulder bag. Li Kai was inexplicably glared at by Nie Qiu, but although he didn’t understand why, he wasn’t angry. His heart even stirred with ripples, a sour and sweet feeling that made him want to laugh and cry at the same time. It was very strange, but he didn’t dislike it.
That glance seemed to tell him that this relationship wasn’t something he felt alone.
Li Kai followed behind Nie Qiu, and they arrived at the dining hall together. Li Mingxue set down the bowls and chopsticks and said to Li Ying with a smile, “Auntie, please go to the study and call my dad down for dinner.”
Li Ying, who was placing the soup pot on the solid wood table, nodded with a smile. She took off her oven mitts, walked into the kitchen, and placed them in a corner. Then she nodded at Nie Qiu and went upstairs. When she came back down, she was accompanied by a middle-aged man.
Nie Qiu’s face was a little red, but she still politely greeted Li Shubai, “Hello, Uncle.”
Li Shubai laughed heartily and said to Nie Qiu, “Hahaha, good, good, good. When Xiao Xue mentioned that Xiao Kai’s tutor was called Nie Qiu just now, I was wondering if it was you. We’ve met before, have you forgotten?”
Nie Qiu shook her head, indicating she hadn’t forgotten. During the monthly exam, she had ranked eighth in the entire grade, so she could have been transferred to Class 1. This person, in order to keep her in Class 10, had offered to sponsor all her study-related expenses with another person.
Li Shubai took his seat and then told Nie Qiu and the others to sit down and eat. The Li family’s meals always focused on nutritional balance and did not follow any strange aristocratic routes. Of course, there were no exaggerated dining tables that required shouting like in TV series; that was basically impossible. Who would be so bored as to have such a long table? They weren’t nouveau riche who entertained guests every day.
However, they basically didn’t talk while eating. Not speaking while eating was basic table manners. When people talk at the table, some might spit due to certain issues, which is extremely impolite. Nie Qiu therefore remained silent, diligently eating the delicious and nutritious dinner.
After dinner, Nie Qiu was about to take her leave. Li Mingxue also stood up to escort Nie Qiu back. Li Shubai saw them both off to the elevator and watched them leave.
Li Kai wiped his mouth, took a ribbon and a piece of clothing from his room, and, wearing slippers, chased after them. At the entrance to the underground garage, he saw Nie Qiu waiting for Li Mingxue to drive out. He walked up and handed Nie Qiu his clothes, “It’s cool tonight, wear this.”
“I don’t… Achoo!” Nie Qiu was about to say she wasn’t cold when a gust of cool wind blew, tickling her nose, and she couldn’t help but sneeze.
Li Kai smiled, stepped forward, and draped his coat over Nie Qiu. Then he handed her the ribbon he was holding, “I saw my sister use this to tie her ponytail, and I think you look great with a ponytail. I bought this for you, you…”
Car headlights emerged from the underground parking lot. Nie Qiu pulled the coat draped over her tighter, snatched the ribbon from Li Kai’s hand, and got into the car parked in front of them.
Li Kai leaned on the car window and said to Nie Qiu, who was sitting in the front passenger seat on the other side, “I’ll pick you up after school tomorrow.”
Li Mingxue poked her head out, gave Li Kai a look of unknown meaning, then closed the car window, turned the steering wheel, and drove away.
Li Kai couldn’t help but put his hand to his forehead. It was over. His sister would definitely interrogate him severely when she got home tonight! Just thinking about it made Li Kai shiver. He turned and walked back towards the building. He decided that when he got home, he would lock his door and not open it no matter how much she knocked!
When Nie Qiu returned home, Nie Aifang was eating. Li Mingxue had bought two pomelos for Nie Qiu to bring back. So, after greeting Nie Aiwen, Nie Qiu went to the kitchen to peel the pomelos, scooped out the flesh, placed it on a plate, and then carried the plate into her room.
“Mom, try this. Aunt Li bought these pomelos.” In front of Nie Aifang, Nie Qiu referred to Li Mingxue as Aunt Li. Li Mingxue was only in her twenties, so calling her that made her sound older, but… who was she to call her that when Li Mingxue was her uncle’s girlfriend?
Nie Aifang tidied up her bowls and chopsticks and eagerly asked, “How was it at their house? Is her younger brother mischievous? Is he obedient? I heard that children from wealthy families are disobedient. Did her younger brother bully you?” In Nie Aifang’s eyes, being a tutor meant encountering such students.
“Mom, he’s in the third year of junior high school just like me, how could he be mischievous?” Nie Qiu said with a wry smile. Listening to Nie Aifang’s tone, it sounded like she was teaching a kindergarten child. “Aunt Li’s younger brother is my classmate, and we’re deskmates!”
“Deskmates?!” Nie Aifang looked at Nie Qiu in surprise, put down her bowls and chopsticks, took Nie Qiu’s hand, and pulled her to sit on their second-hand sofa. “Qiu Qiu, Qiu Qiu, I forbid you from tutoring him anymore. I won’t allow you to tutor that classmate.”
Nie Qiu looked at Nie Aifang with some surprise, not understanding what she meant. She asked with a bit of astonishment, “Why? Didn’t we promise Aunt Li?”
Nie Aifang held Nie Qiu’s hand and said worriedly, “I’ll talk to your Aunt Li. We’ll say we have something going on and can’t give him make-up classes anymore! Qiu Qiu, listen to me. You have amnesia, you don’t remember, you used to be bullied by someone.” Nie Aifang wiped away a tear that had accidentally spilled and looked at Nie Qiu.
Nie Qiu looked at her mother, who was doting on her child, and didn’t know how to respond.
“You don’t know, he poured glue on the stool, and your pants got a big hole that day. You were afraid to go home. I finished my stall late at night and came home to find you hadn’t returned. I went to the school to find you, and you were asleep in the classroom.” The more Nie Aifang thought about it, the more distressed she became, constantly wiping away the tears that fell. “The next day you had a high fever, your whole body was ice cold, and you were hospitalized for a week.”
Nie Qiu gently hugged Nie Aifang, patting her back as she listened to her mother’s heartbroken account.
“One day you came back, and your school uniform’s elbow was covered in blood,” Nie Aifang said, sobbing. “I knew you hadn’t slept well because you helped me with the stall, so you had to sleep during class. I asked you about the blood on your elbow, and you said it was nothing. I went to the school myself to see. That person… that person had used over twenty compass points stuck in the middle of the desk, and if you weren’t careful, you’d hit your elbow.”
